U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,991, issued Apr. 5, 1983 to Levitt discloses benzenesulfonamide compounds which display herbidical activity of the formula ##STR1## wherein R, among other values, can be phenyl, optionally substituted, and R.sub.1 can be H, F, Cl, Br, NO.sub.2, CF.sub.3, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, OCF.sub.3 or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy. While the disclosure of this reference generically encompasses the compounds of the present invention, neither the specific compounds of this invention nor their unexpected herbicidal utility for the selective control of weeds in rice, are taught therein.